The Object: A Hard Sci-Fi Novel

by Joshua T Calvert

Genres: Science Fiction

348 pages, Paperback

Expected publication March 31, 2026

Reviews

[Vans · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a certain group of people who are going to LOVE this book and I'm in that group. If you're already an expert on space/astrophysics/etc, this may not be for you - not because this book doesn't HAVE all that, but because boy does it go into detail explaining everything. And if you already know it, that might rub you the wrong way. The characters do a lot of explaining to each other which seems weird as they're all experts in their fields, but part of it is explained away as "the mission is being livestreamed to Earth and the common watcher needs to know what's going on." And honestly, that aspect of the story lends its own problems to the overall plot.

I love reading books about space travel/first contact/stuff going wrong in space, and this book delivers. Equal parts exciting and tense (with a dash of horrifying), The Object scratched all my space travel sci fi itches.

[Jeffrey Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It’s a truly fantastic premise reminiscent of Project Hail Mary. The characters are likable, but not always given the most depth to truly be moved by them. It has moments of hard sci-fi which get lost toward the end. The pacing is good as it covers many years, however the separation between time periods is occasionally jarring as you didn’t realize how much time had passed between sections. Overall, I enjoyed the book and can’t wait to try more by this author.